Showing at the BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, ‘Mutantes (Punk Porn Feminism)’ is a documentary about the sex positive feminist movement, as seen by the activists, sex workers and performers. Virginie Despentes (director of the film ‘Baise-Moi’ amongst others) has interviewed a wide-range of pro-sex performers, academics, film makers and activists across the U.S and Europe, notably France and Spain. With clips from various porn films and performance pieces interspersed throughout, this winner of the CHE ‘Derek Oystan Film Award’ at this years’ LLGFF, is thought-provoking, entertaining, sexy and informative.

The list of interviewees is extensive, starting with Annie Sprinkle, who always manges to raise a smile and challenge prejudice in an enlightened and humourous way, Carol Queen and other women from the early days of the pro-sex feminist era. We follow the changes, growth and expansion of ideologies from the early 1980s to the present day, demonstrated by the views, activism and porn produced by the punk porn movement’s new radicals in France and Barcelona. The way the shift in feminist thinking has occurred over the decades shows how there is constant change as our understanding of gender, femininities and masculinities and sex itself is constantly challenged and built upon.

This refreshing, provocative film has many instances of humour, politics and what the pleasures and limitless expectations of sex is all about. It will leave the viewer with much to think about, as well as the memory of some hot films, which I am sure you will want to remember the titles of. Some of these clips have not been widely seen before, and will leave you wanting to seek them out to view in full. It also helps you rediscover some lost classics; I, myself, had forgotten the joys of Lydia Lunch’s fishnet clad ass as well as Tribe8’s ferocious BDSM influenced live performances. Strong, intelligent women, with a pro-sex, ethical feminist stance and aesthetic, that will hopefully counteract what is unfortunately an often misogynist porn industry, can only be a good thing. Let’s hope we get the chance to see more work from the punk porn feminist movement, and open up all our eyes to what is possible.

To some, Portal was a first-person shooter turned into a puzzle game. To many however, it is one of the most intelligent, subversive and thought provoking narratives ever presented within a video game.

Videogames on the whole are created by and for a male audience. In the few cases that females are involved, they are merely the “damsel in distress” or the “love interest” of the male hero.

There are exceptions however like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider and Samus Aran from the Metroid series but even these women behave in a very masculine way, seemingly the only way they can be acknowledged within a male dominated environment. They may be strong, but are also extremely sexualised in order to appeal to the male demographic.

That being said, things have gotten better for female characters in videogames, but they can’t completely escape this stereotype.

Portal is a prime example of a game that tries to do things differently, deliberately going against the grain of male-centric videogame conventions. You play a very unglamorous looking woman in an orange jumpsuit named Chell that, beyond being female is barely acknowledged as the main character. The spotlight is truly stolen by the devious and sadistic female computer AI called GLaDOS who’s sole goal throughout the entire game is to kill Chell (in other words, you).

You progress through Aperture Laboratories via means of the Portal Gun, a gun that with its two colour shots creates and entrance and exit point for you to go through, or as a means of manipulating the environment around you in order to aid your escape. The puzzles increase in difficulty as you progress, and more complex uses of the Portal Gun and the environment will have you scratching your head till the very end (unless you’re good at that kind of thing!).

Beyond the premise of defeating GLaDOS and escaping the facility you are trapped in, everything else is open to interpretation. Some have said that the Portal Gun you use in the game is representative of a phallic symbol within a very feminine environment, but unlike guns in other shooters is a means of creation rather than destruction. Some have even said that, on closer inspection, GLaDOS looks like a woman hanging upside down and tied up in a kind of bondage gear. If GLaDOS is a woman trapped in the restraints her creators made for her, is defeating her in a sense setting her free?

I would be the first to admit opinions like this are really stretching to find deeper meanings beyond what is shown in the game, but in a way is that not part of what makes this game so iconic? The internet exploded with passion for the game, the meme “The cake is a lie” has become a call to arms for fans to express their love for a game that has dared to give gamers a unique and more cerebral experience than the average shooter game.

GLaDOS constantly messes with your mind in an attempt to extract an emotional response from Chell, and therefore you. The use of a female voice is strangely comforting in contrast to if a male voice had been used instead. Despite everything, the player gains an attachment to GLaDOS where in other games you are instructed to hate your enemy.

I could go on about the various points depicted within this game, but with everything you can only truly make up your own mind by picking up a copy and playing it yourself. Not a problem, as you can get it on Playstation 3, Xbox 360 or PC.

And with the advent of the release of Portal 2 at the end of April, you too can get the chance to see where the geniuses at Valve will take GLaDOS, you and Chell next!

Today is International Women’s Day! It has been 100 years since we have dedicated a day to celebrate and recognise women and their achievements.

In London tonight, The Climate Rush organisation, who take action on climate change in the spirit of the Suffragette movement, have organised an event at the Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church from 7-9pm. The aim is to celebrate International Women’s Day and bring attention to how climate change will affect women disproportionately.

With speakers to include Maria Beatriz Souviron, ambassador to Bolivia, and Suffragette historian Dr Diane Atkinson, this event will bring together activists, campaigners, teachers and all women and men with an interest in affecting change together. It will allow all those who attend the chance to get involved in delegating parliament, get involved in inspirational activism, participate in late-night street-art and find out more about how there is a connection between climate change protest and the women’s movement. this is an important event, so if you get the chance, get involved.

On a more frivolous note (because yes, feminists do have a sense of humour, thankyouverymuch), here is a link to a YouTube clip, in which James Bond gets a ‘proper’ dressing down for his sexist behaviour! Sort of…

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